1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to radio-controlled robots for controlling battery-powered action toys, especially toy vehicles.
2. Prior Art
The closest prior patent art known to applicant is the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,814, Melendez PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,867, Mehrens PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,663, Nagahara PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,228, Goldfarb et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,670, Wang
These patents show that the use of a robot operator to operate a vehicle is old art. But what distinguishes the present invention from the prior art patents is its interchangeability feature, that is, the feature that enables the radio-controlled robot operator to be transferred from one battery-powered toy to another, e.g., from one vehicle to another, or from operating a vehicle to operating a machine carried by the vehicle, e.g., a hoist.
In the prior art the robot operator and the vehicle operated by it are integral parts of a single toy. The robot operator is not made or intended to be a separable entity adapted to be transferred to other vehicles or other mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,228 (Goldfarb) is a case in point. The patented invention is applicable to a motorcycle (FIG. 1), an airplane (FIG. 12), a car (FIG. 14) and a boat (FIG. 16), but there is no suggestion that the same robot driver can be used interchangeably in all four vehicles, that is, transferred from any one vehicle to any other vehicle to operate same.